


Changed By You

by jadehqknb



Series: I'll stop the world (and melt with you) [10]
Category: Haikyuu!!
Genre: Confession, First Kiss, Getting Together, M/M, Mutual Pining, Teacher/Coach, advisor/coach, finding love as adults, hint of saeko/naoi
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-05-14
Updated: 2020-05-14
Packaged: 2021-03-02 23:35:04
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,227
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24175201
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/jadehqknb/pseuds/jadehqknb
Summary: Ukai found that, despite adulthood, some things just never got easier. Like admitting feelings not only to himself but to the person he felt for. The one thing he can't deny: Takeda-sensei has changed him.Now, his dumb heart wants another change only this time, between them.The question is: has he changed enough to let him know the truth?
Relationships: Takeda Ittetsu/Ukai Keishin
Series: I'll stop the world (and melt with you) [10]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1392886
Comments: 8
Kudos: 216





	Changed By You

**Author's Note:**

> Song on loop: [Changed By You, by Between the Trees](https://open.spotify.com/track/61FFHh0hWOR8RJX8T5kZzl?si=AfFZqPjfQCaJJvEVoan7_g)
> 
> Thanks to Alibee for [prompt #12](https://sentence-fragments.tumblr.com/post/128655641230/101-fluffy-prompts): **“I can't stop thinking about you”**  
> 

Taking a long drag on his cigarette, Ukai looked across the dirt, watching as the sun began to rise. Blowing out a cloud of smoke, he watched it snake upwards to join the atmosphere, a sigh on his lips. He wished the nicotine coursing through his body would offer more comfort against the itch inside his skin. 

This was so stupid. He was acting like a lovelorn teenager, not a grown-ass man who should know better. Only, as he’d discovered through various misfortunes, headaches and heartaches, some things really never did get easier with age. If anything, they felt more difficult. 

Especially when it came to feelings deeper than ones he really wanted to admit to. 

But no matter how fervently he argued with himself that it was a bad idea, that it would never work and he didn’t intend to stick around for the long run anyway, he couldn’t let go of the idea of _him._

“Ukai-san? Oh! There you are.” 

Ukai took a deep breath, setting his face to one of casual indifference as he turned to face the very man he’d just been in deep contemplation about. “What’s up?” he asked, taking another drag on his cig, his free hand settling into his pocket and with a roll of his eyes to himself he realized just how ‘cool’ he was trying to look. 

Lame. Lame. Lame. 

“The bus is packed and everyone is accounted for, we’re ready to get going,” Takeda-sensei advised. 

Ukai nodded, dropping his stub and grinding it with his heel. “Sounds good, thanks for giving me a few to grab a puff,” he said. 

“Not a problem, although—” Takeda-sensei cut himself off, pressing his lips together. 

“What?” Ukai asked, already knowing the answer but wondering if the teacher would say it. To his surprise, a part of him really wanted him to. 

Takeda-sensei hesitated, but did eventually reply, “I just wonder if, perhaps, it would be better if you didn’t smoke… at least not around the team.” He waved his hands around, immediate embarrassment coloring his tone as he hurried on, “Ah! Nevermind, it’s none of my business. You should do as you like and—”

“Maybe you’re right, sensei,” Ukai conceded, pleased at the bright flush on the teacher’s cheeks. 

“Really?” he asked as they neared the bus from which Ukai could hear a ruckus brewing during their absence. 

Rubbing his forehead, Ukai said, “Sure. Just… after training camp... maybe.”

Takeda-sensei chuckled as he nodded and they boarded the bus, Ukai’s voice ringing out for everyone to quiet down and get as much sleep as they could as they made the drive to camp. 

*~~*

The first day was over before he knew it. Then again, it always felt like it flew away as quickly as the crows he was leading since they arrived halfway through it thanks to their long drive from Miyagi. 

But a long day didn’t stop him from joining in the drinks with the other coaches and advisors. Yawning, Ukai stretched his arms high above his head, popping and cracking in new places that made him groan. “I’m getting too old for this,” he muttered. 

“Don’t let Naoi-san hear you say that,” Takeda mock whispered across the table to Ukai. His cheeks and the bridge of his nose were a sweet shade of pink and Ukai couldn’t help thinking his hiccups were rather adorable. 

Yep, he was a dead man. In too deep, too fast for a man three years his senior and most likely looking for someone a hell of a lot better than Ukai. 

“Well boys, I’m gonna turn in,” Tanaka Saeko advised, slamming down the glass of her third or fourth pint of the evening. 

“I’ll escort you to your room,” Naoi offered, standing as the blonde did. 

She cackled loudly, slinging her arm into the crook of his. “Oh honey, don’t make it so obvious!” 

Blushing but laughing along with her, Naoi half dragged her out of the room and Ukai felt a headache coming on. 

“Well, that’s a surprise,” Takeda-sensei said, his glassy eyes wide. 

“How do you mean?” Ukai asked. 

He took a gulp of his drink, promptly choking on it when Takeda-sensei said, “I thought you and her were an item... or whatever it's called these days.” 

Ukai stared at him, then chortled. “What? No way! That… I mean, don’t get me wrong, Tanaka-san is really good-looking and all that but she and I… no. It’s not me.” He took a deep breath, questioning the wisdom of his next words but the opening was there and he was just tipsy enough to feel brave. “Besides,” he said, waiting until Takeda-sensei was looking at him again, “I can’t stop thinking about you.”

The teacher either didn’t hear him or was slow to process his words because he sat completely still for a long thirty seconds. Finally, he blinked, his cheeks pinking even further and his voice hoarse when he said, “That’s not very nice, Ukai-san.”

“Hah?!” Ukai exclaimed, dismay showing on his face. “Oi, I’m being serious here!”

Takeda-sensei stared long and hard at him, his scrutinizing gaze penetrating straight through Ukai to his very soul but he refused to allow himself to back down, knowing that if he dropped his eyes the teacher would never believe his sincerity. 

After a long minute or two in which Ukai was afraid to even _blink_ , Takeda-sensei stood up from his seat and on wobbly legs rounded the table, plopping himself right in Ukai’s space. “Then is it ok if I kiss you?” he asked, breath tinted with the beer he’d drank. 

“Only if you’re lucid enough to know what you’re doing,” Ukai retorted, his pulse thundering. 

“I wouldn’t have asked if I were lucid, I’d probably have just hauled you in. So… yes?” 

Ukai nodded and it was then Takeda-sensei _did_ haul him in by the front collar of his shirt. The kiss was rather sloppy to begin with, Takeda-sensei's equilibrium still questionable and Ukai’s shock at this actually happening inhibiting their ability to find a happy medium. 

But Ukai hands moved on their own as if they were made to fit on Takeda-sensei’s waist, pulling him closer as the teacher’s hands wrapped around his neck and oh, that was _nice_. 

Ukai parted his lips ever so slightly, testing the waters and Takeda-sensei dove right in, moaning against his lips. Eyebrows scrunched together, Ukai had to work not to haul the teacher into his lap completely. He parted them with a wet pop, their lips still close enough to share the same breath. 

“You have no idea how long I’ve wanted to do that,” Takeda-sensei admitted, forehead resting against Ukai’s. 

“Oh, I think I have a fairly good one,” Ukai said with a soft laugh. He carded his fingers through dark curls and nuzzled the teacher’s nose. “But if we’re gonna continue this, we should probably find some place more private.”

“The bus,” Takeda-sensei said without hesitation, dropping money on the table and pulling Ukai along into the muggy night. 

And Ukai had never been so glad to be an adult than the moment he sat in the dark on a bench seat in a bus, his lap full of the man he’d been unable to get out of his head since he barreled his way into his shop seeking a coach for Karasuno. 


End file.
